In March of 2017 Citizens For Justice cameraman Matt Akins and I were confronted by Springfield Missouri Police Department Detective Matt Farmer while filming the SPD Headquarters. Akins had been following me as I investigated the public broadcast of private information by Springfield police officers. The investigation, which uncovered evidence that Social Security numbers were being read to the 911 call center over an unsecured dispatch channel available to anyone with a smart phone, led us to the Springfield Police Department General Headquarters.

As Akins was filming two officers walk across a parking lot, I noticed a white truck that had been leaving the department suddenly reverse course and stop. A man in plain clothes promptly exited the truck and advanced towards the position we held. The plain clothed man forced a truck that was attempting to pull into the department parking area to a stop, before crossing the driveway and approaching the vehicle we were seated in.

The man never identified himself as an officer but demanded to know why we were taking pictures. Akins responded by asking if they were being detained. The unidentified man responded that they weren’t but that he wanted to know why they were taking pictures. Akins asked if it was illegal or if we had a first amendment right to film. The unidentified man then walked to the rear of the vehicle and began writing down the license plate of my vehicle.

Akins proceeded to ask the man for identification 4 times before the man identified himself solely by a badge number. It was later determined that the man in question was SPD Detective Matthew Farmer.

Raw footage of my attorney Stephen Wyse and myself delivering a complaint to the Springfield Police Department in Springfield, MO. The complaint was to notify the department they were violating the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act by broadcasting social security numbers over a public dispatch channel.

My interview with Citizen For Justice pertaining to the illegal release of personal information by the Springfield Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, and Springfield-Greene County 911 Emergency Communications Center

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